Tuesday, 28 July 2009

in 1953, pianist George Russell published his Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, which offered an alternative to the practice of improvisation based on chords. Abandoning the traditional major and minor key relationships of Western music, Russell developed a new formulation using scales or a series of scales for improvisations. Russell's approach to improvisation came to be known as modal in jazz. Davis saw Russell's methods of composition as a means of getting away from the dense chord-laden compositions of his time, which Davis had labeled 'thick'. Modal composition, with its reliance on scales and modes, represented, as Davis put it, "a return to melody" (rovingeye2)

Thursday, 23 July 2009

How Organized Consumer Purchasing Can Change Business from carrotmob on Vimeo.The predictable reflex behaviour called "business sense" will fall for a ploy, every time. There's no trick there, its simple behaviour-mod, 2-4-6-8 Ring the Bell and Salivate ... a carrot on a stick. That part is easy, but the REAL trick is getting the shoppers to coordinate THEIR purchase reflex to hold the carrot's stick.

Originally funded by the RCAF Association, the release was digitally remastered for re-release on CD in 1994; this dub is taken from a CrO2 cassette tape lent to us by a fan.

"A stirring selection of military marches and medleys of wartime nostalgia, coupled with the moving renditions of the Airman's Prayer and High Flight demonstrate here an Air Force musical standard that hasn't been equalled over the past 20 years.

"For many, the icing on the cake si the unqiue presentation of the Air Force pipers and drummers performing arrangements specially composed by Canada's leading pipe band impresarios: Archie Cairns and John Kerr."

This re-issue was a commemorative project to mark the 45th anniversary of the RCAF Association and the 70th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Saturday, 18 July 2009

The Brixton Pound (B£) is a local currency launching in September 2009. This is a practical way for local people to vote with our wallets for a strong and diverse Brixton economy. It will be a complementary currency, working alongside (not replacing) pounds sterling, for use by independent local businesses and individuals trading within Brixton.

Brixton will be the third Transition Town to have its own currency, following the Totnes Pound in Devon and Lewes Pound in Sussex both of which have been very successful and received national media coverage. Brixton will be the first part of London to have its own currency and the first urban area in the UK.

As a big-mouth futurist, I get questions. People wanted to know the way out of the International Banking Conspiracy, people asked me how we could escape the downward spiral of unemployment, rising inflation and debt debt debt. People asked me what could the people of a small rural region do to salve what their overlord governments refuse to address. And what did I say? I said "Scrip".

That was years ago. That was months ago.That was just weeks ago. And I was right.

At a recent performance, an elderly fan lent us a stack of cassette tapes of Canadian swing and concert bands, among them several recordings of the legendary Spitfire Band; The band and its recordings are described at The Canadian Encyclopedia.com (http://bit.ly/ZHe5h):

Toronto dance band, formed in 1981 as a studio orchestra by the singer Jackie Rae, with the trumpeter Mickey Erbe as music director and arranger and the trombonist Laurie Bower as vocal arranger. With the success of its first LPs, The Spitfire Band (RCA KKL1-0432) and Flight II (RCA KKL1-0449), it began to perform publicly in 1982, making its debut in St Catharines, Ont, and giving the first of many concerts at Ontario Place. Rae has served as featured vocalist and master of ceremonies, and Erbe as bandleader. After a Christmas album that year, Home for the Holidays (RCA EP-102), it had LPs issued 1983-5 by Columbia (Flight III, PCC-80008; A Sentimental Journey, PCC-80097; In Flight, PCC-80106) and later by Attic (Swings Down Broadway, LAT-1230; Swinging the Movies, LAT-1234). A compilation, The Make Believe Ballroom (Qual RSPD-205), was issued in 1990.

Other public engagements have included many fund-raising events, performances at the CNE Bandshell, Roy Thomson Hall, the NAC, Lincoln Center (New York), and several appearances, as well as a residency 1988-9, at the Imperial Room of Toronto's Royal York Hotel. Initially the band's repertoire comprised Erbe's updates of swing-era classics ('Marie,' 'Tuxedo Junction,' 'In the Mood,' 'Pennsylvania 6-5000,' 'I'll Never Smile Again', etc) but came on record to include movie and Broadway themes, and other pop material. Personnel is not listed on the band's LPs but has included musicians from Toronto's jazz and studio circles - eg, trumpeters Arnie Chycoski, John MacLeod, and Dave Woods, saxophonists Bob D'Angelis, Steve Lederer, and Jack Zaza, and trombonists Bower and Bob Livingston.

This is first-class Miller-style swing all the way, expertly executed and updated to the 80's. The Spitfire Band may still be performing and recording so if you like this one, please show them some love: they still have an artist's homepage at arbproductions.ca for contact and bookings, and while Flight II appears out of print, they do have newer recordings available at Amazon.com.

Sunday, 5 July 2009

go to petitionthem.com, you can read up on their reasoning and the rules of the process, and then sign the petition. Seeger turned 90 this year, and they promise to campaign until Pete gets the prize. I can think of no one more deserving.